DETERMINANTS OF HOSEHOLDS WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR IMPROVED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SERVICES IN GULLELE SUB CITY, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The generation of solid waste has become an increasing environmental and public health problem everywhere in the world, particularly in developing countries like Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, solid waste management is mainly provided by the municipality and it has been measured and evaluated always based on the role and performance of the service provider (supplier of service) while demand side i.e. Willingness To Pay (WTP) of the residents is ignored. This study aimed at determining the households’ willingness to pay for improved solid waste management services in Gullele sub city .Using Contingent Valuation Method, a total of 400 households were interviewed to gather information on their willingness to pay. Logistic regression model was used to determine the influence of different determinants of households’ willingness to pay. Socioeconomic information showed that 205(52%) of respondents were female, 313(79.44%) married and 376(93.15%) attained a certain level of education. The majority of respondents 58.5% fall under the age group 27-49 year. As of the willingness to pay for improved solid waste management services, 352 respondents corresponding to 89.3%) answered “yes” and 42(10.7%) respondents said “no”. The regression analysis revealed that at 5% significance level, Income, Awareness, Current situation, Age, House ownership and Education have positive and significance influence on the households’ willingness to pay for improved solid waste management services. Household’s size, variable exhibited a negative relationship and influence on the households’ willingness to pay. The study showed that the main reason for not willing to pay for improved solid waste management services is lack of financial capacity, implying that households need to be financial empowered. Further studies are recommended to determine whether the expressed amount of willingness to pay if scaled to the entire urban population can cover the cost associated with solid waste management services .Further, cross subsidization among the rich and poor households should be explored to ensure full coverage of the service.